Visualizing the spatial distribution and alteration of metabolites in continuously cropped Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge using MALDI-MSI

Natural or artificial: An example of topographic spatial distribution analysis of mescaline in cactus plants by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging

“…When used in conjunction with optical microscopy, MSI can combine morphological features with chemical graphs to provide a targetless, label-free, and versatile method for molecular imaging (Nie et al, 2021). The high instrument sensitivity, high spatial resolution, high accuracy of detection quality, and fast determination speed are significant advantages; consequently, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) is now showing great potential for the imaging of endogenous molecules in tissue sections in botany (Sturtevant et al, 2016;Qin et al, 2018;Susniak et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2022).…”

Imaging plant metabolism in situ

“…Spatial profiles of metabolites reflect enzymatic activity and regulation, and, here, the spatial profiling of polyamines was consistent with immunohistochemistry and fluorescent microscopy studies of the respective polyamine-producing aminopropyltransferase enzymes ( Belda-Palazón et al , 2012 ). In roots of the medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza , spermine and spermidine were enriched in the xylem and outer cortex roots of repeatedly cropped plants relative to other root tissue regions ( Sun et al , 2022 ). The authors were surprised to find that normal cropped roots had much higher polyamine levels, which may explain some of the altered growth physiology observed in continuously cropped plants.…”

Spatial Distribution and Characterization of the Small-Molecule Metabolites and In Situ Hydrolyzed Oligosaccharides in the Rhizome of Glycyrrhiza uralensis by Desorption Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Imaging and High-Resolution Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

“…Moreover, the advancement of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) techniques has facilitated the visualization of the spatial distribution of the primary/secondary metabolites in diverse plant tissues with high sensitivity and extensive coverage . Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) are currently two most frequently used ionization techniques in MSI to visualize the dynamic spatial distributions of the functional metabolites. − Compared with MALDI-MSI, DESI-MSI does not require matrix spraying, thus avoiding matrix ion interference. , MSI analysis can provide important information for understanding the distribution and specific biofunctions of metabolites in plants. An atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption (AP-MALDI) MSI method could identify and visualize the spatial distribution of free flavonoids, flavonoid glycosides, and saponins of Glycyrrhiza glabra at the cellular level .…”